NFL flags Boulder-based West Flanders' Broncos-themed beer

League sent brewery cease-and-desist over Brett on the Broncos brew

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
01/16/2014 05:16:41 PM MST

The NFL objected to this logo for Boulder-based West Flanders Brewing Company's single-keg brew Brett on the Broncos. The brewery has changed the beer's name to Omaha Omaha Brett, in honor of Peyton Manning. (Courtesy West Flanders Brewing Company)

Colorado loves its beer, and Colorado loves its Broncos.

But the NFL threw a penalty flag on a Boulder brewery that tried to combine the two before the Broncos' big matchup this weekend.

As part of its weekly single-keg series, West Flanders Brewing Company, located at 1125 Pearl St., created a small-batch beer by combining its Obfuscation Trippel and its Angry Monk Belgian-style golden ale.

Marty Jones, a spokesman for West Flanders, said the brewery likes to have fun naming the small-batch beers, and at the moment they came up with a name for this beer, the brewery folks were having fun watching the Broncos win their playoff matchup against the San Diego Chargers.

So in advance of the Broncos' playoff game Sunday against the New England Patriots, the brewery named its beer Brett on the Broncos — an "AFC Champions Style Ale."

"We decided as soon as the clock ran out against the Chargers," Jones said.

The name is a nod to the Brettanomyces yeast used to make the beer, which, at 7.2 percent alcohol by volume, the brewery touted as "much too strong of a match for New England-style chowder or Boston-baked beans."

The brewery even created a blue-and-orange logo for the Thursday release.

"We like to be fun and topical with the beers, since it's just a keg," Jones said. "The point of the beer was to be proud of the home team."

But just a day after announcing the brew, Jones said West Flanders received a cease and desist letter from the NFL informing the brewery that it was "engaging in unauthorized promotional use of the NFL Marks (including inter alia, the AFC word mark and the Denver Broncos word mark and color combination) in connection with the promotion of your business."

The letter instructed them to respond by Sunday.

"Now we understand why players call it the No Fun League," Jones said. "We're just a little brewery, and we got horse-tackled by the great and powerful NFL."

Legal representatives with the NFL did not return calls for comment Thursday.

Jones said he was surprised at the league's letter.

"We were just trying to have some fun and support the team, so it seems silly it raised the ire of the NFL, but oh well," Jones said. "I guess they own the colors orange and blue. Somebody better tell the Florida Gators that."

Owner Mark Heinritz said the brewery will stop using the name and logo and sent a letter to the NFL informing them of the decision.

"I guess I get it, it's a big legal world out there," Heinritz said. "We weren't looking to pick any fights, just trying to have some fun and cheer on the Broncos.

In the meantime, the brewery is calling an audible by renaming the beer Omaha Omaha Brett after the mysterious call Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning uses during games.

The brewery also is making sure its promotions and logo for the beer comply with the NFL.

"We might have to say, 'Come root for your favorite Denver-area team playing a national past time sport this weekend,'" Heinritz said.

Regardless of what it will be named, Jones said the single keg series is a way to allow brewer Brian Lutz to experiment with new beer styles.

"Beer geeks and lovers of sour beers will really like this," Jones said.

But there is only one keg, so those who want to try it will need to follow Manning's advice to "hurry, hurry."

"The odds are the beer will be gone by (Sunday) anyway, so if folks want some, they should come down," Jones said.

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